Chapter 6: Best Practices for Programme Management
A programme is not a collection of projects; it is a system for delivering coordinated strategic outcomes and shared business benefits.
1. Anchor Decisions to Strategic Outcomes
Keep focus on why the programme exists — benefits, outcomes, and strategic alignment — not just delivering outputs. Use the Programme Benefits Register as the anchor document in every Programme Board meeting.
2. Integrate, Don’t Duplicate
Programme Management is a coordinating and value-delivery function, not bureaucracy. Integrate programme oversight into existing governance rhythms. Pull data from project-level artefacts to populate programme dashboards, avoiding duplicate effort.
3. Actively Manage Interdependencies
Interdependencies are where most programme risks originate. Maintain and review the Interdependency Map at least quarterly. Use joint planning workshops with Project Managers to agree sequencing, milestones, and dependency resolution.
4. Treat Benefits Like a Deliverable
Benefits are planned, tracked, and managed from P0, not post-project activities. Assign Benefits Owners early. Link benefits tracking with the Programme Change Lead’s adoption metrics for complete view of delivery and value.
5. Keep Governance Focused
Use Programme Board time for strategic decision-making: benefits realisation, strategic alignment, major scope or budget changes, cross-project conflict resolution. Handle operational and project-specific issues at project board level unless they have programme-wide impact.
6. Maintain Clear Escalation Paths
Define and communicate escalation routes from project boards → programme board → portfolio board. Ensure escalation criteria are clear so only relevant issues reach the programme level.
7. Build a Strong Programme Team
Invest in the Programme Manager role — requires leadership, negotiation, strategic thinking. Co-locate (physically or virtually) the Programme Manager, Change Lead, and support staff. Develop strong working relationships between Programme Manager and Project Managers — avoid command and control.
8. Scale to Fit
Not all multi-project efforts require full governance. Apply threshold consistently: ≥2 related projects + shared strategic objective + benefit aggregation required. For smaller programmes, use light version — fewer meetings, simplified dashboards, but still track benefits and dependencies.
9. Ensure Change and Benefits Work Hand-in-Hand
Engage the Programme Change Lead from the start. Ensure stakeholder engagement, adoption, and behaviour change align with benefit delivery. Don’t declare benefits realised unless adoption and usage levels meet agreed thresholds.
10. Close Well and Learn
Conduct thorough programme closure — celebrate successes, document lessons learned, feed back into knowledge base. Review benefits realisation after closure to verify they are sustained in operational teams.
Practical Tips from Experience
- Visualise the programme: Keep high-level roadmap visible to all teams.
- Communicate simply: Avoid jargon; make reports easy for non-technical stakeholders.
- Stay flexible: Accept that sequencing and scope will evolve — governance manages change, not resists it.
- Don’t forget the people side: Benefits are delivered through people adopting new ways of working.